Solving Riddles
by adsurgo
Summary: Aurora grew up in a muggle family and is going to Hogwarts, but as she's sorted into Slytherin, she discovers that she isn't muggle-born. She seeks the truth about herself from legends and stories, solving riddles and unmasking the mystery. Oh, and, Tom Riddle.
1. Chapter 1

My first attempt of writing! I have a general idea of the story but not too sure how it's going to turn out. Hope you'll enjoy it! (:

**Epilogue**

1st September, 1939. 10:04.

"So this is it!" A car pulled over, and the women inside turned around to look at her daughter. She beamed, "A new school year at a new school! Aurora dear, promise to be good, okay?"

"Okay mom." The girl in the back seat spoke quietly, grabbing her bag and smiled politely before reaching for the door.

The man in the car helped Aurora retrieve her trunk and set it on the ground, before returning to the driver's seat.

"Bye!" They waved, as though it was the start of any normal school term, as though they did not find out over the summer that their daughter is a witch, as though they were not sending their daughter to a wizarding school to learn magic.

"Bye mom, bye dad!" The girl waved and watched as the car drove away. _I guess their used to sending off their daughter to some place for a whole year, so that some other people can take care of her, feed her and educate her while they go and enjoy their lives._ Aurora sighed and turned, pushing her trunk on a trolley and walked into King's Cross Station.

1st September, 1939. 10:28.

She sat alone in an empty compartment – there was quite a lot to choose from – and looked out the window to see the platform. Platform nine and three quarters.

She watched as parents and their children walked onto the platform through the magical wall, just as she did some ten minutes ago. She watched as time passed and the platform grew more crowded, more alive.

She was anxious. It wasn't the first time she's gone to a boarding school to spend time with a bunch of strangers, but it wasn't just a new school, it was a new _world_. What if she hates it, what if she's really bad at school work? Maths, literature, geography, history, those she could manage, and quite well she dare say, but _charms, transfiguration_, what even is –

Bang. The compartment door opened, and two boys stepped in. The first boy had black hair, combed neatly back, and dark brown eyes, the second had messy brown hair and eyes that shone turquoise. The first boy stepped forward and extended a hand.

"Joseph Lestrange, first year. Mind if we join you? There seems to be no more empty compartments." He seemed quite polite and well-mannered, but Aurora had a feeling that he wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Sure," Aurora nodded and shook his hand.

The second boy stepped inside and took her hand. "Tony Mulciber, nice to meet you," he said with a smirk that seemed to never leave his face.

"Aurora Saxon," she smirked back, "although we never know if it's really _nice_ that we meet. I mean, no one _really_ knows what house they'll be in, we could end up as enemies."

Joseph raised his brow and looked amused as he sat down opposite to Aurora, and Tony next to him. "That's true, I guess we should skip the self introduction part and try to keep this train ride friendly and enjoyable then."

The train ride was indeed quite friendly and enjoyable, as the three smiled and started trivial small talk, tales of previous journeys, schools, anything. Aurora didn't speak much though, she preferred to listen, the tales of the two boys were intriguing. She also felt that being "muggle-born" wasn't a thing to be proud of in this world, and she hoped to prevent bringing it up.

The train sped past cities and towns and fields, while the three first years shared pumpkin pies, chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's every flavour beans. They enjoyed their time not knowing exactly who sat opposite them, and for the last time, without expectations on their actions from families or houses.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

1st September, 1939. 18:02

The sky was deep blue, with a few stars here and there. The first years walked along a lake towards the silhouette of a magnificent castle.

Aurora walked in silence as she followed Joseph and Tony, glancing at the calm waters and the reflections of the stars that glimmered. She looked back up at the great big silhouette, it looked like something out of a fairytale, surreal, but now that she was closer, she could see the bricks of the walls and the arches and windows, the light that shone from within and the flags that swayed in the slight breeze. She smiled, imagining the magnificent architecture and the adventure she could have exploring it. But also anxious. She looked at the two boys talking in front of her, and then at the crowd of first years chattering excitedly. _Who would be friends? Who would be enemies?_

They stepped into the castle and was told to wait for the sorting ceremony to begin. Aurora looked around and studied her surroundings in the dim torch light, trying to ignore the nervous discussions on _how _they were getting sorted. A giant spiral staircase was on her left, leading to all the classrooms, dormitories, she assumed. Light seeped through the great big wooden door in front of her, and she could hear faint noises from beyond. _That would be the hall._

Her guess was immediately confirmed as the doors sprung open. A tall wizard who introduced himself as Professor Dumbledore, led them from the shadows outside into the bright hall. The ceiling was so tall, or was there no ceiling? When she looked up, she could see the sky, a darker shape of blue now, where distant stars are faintly visible. Four long tables were set, two on either side, and a head table for the staff was placed on a stage. There right in front of the head table, sat a stool, and on it a wizard's hat.

Professor Dumbledore led them to the front of the hall, and stood aside, as the students all stopped talking and focused on the first years. Suddenly, the hat started to… sing. Aurora looked at it with disbelief, but still tried to listen to what it was saying, it's past and how it sorts all the students into houses.

_Gryffindor bravery, Hufflepuff loyalty, Ravenclaw intelligence, Slytherin ambition. _She thought, recalling what the lady from the ministry had told her. _Most people from wizarding families go to houses of their ancestors, it's like… a sort of tradition. I should warn you, Slytherins believe in the superiority of blood, they look down on muggles and muggle-born, so remember not to mess with them if you don't want trouble._

The old hat finally finished its song and Professor Dumbledore started to read out names, she watched as one by one, the first years sat on the stool and the hat shouted the name of a house. She felt more anxious now, where she ends up will decide what friends she makes and what kind of a person she will become. She wasn't sure too she wanted to know if she was loyal, or if she wasn't intelligent.

"Lestrange, Joseph!"

Aurora watched as the dark haired boy walked up confidently and sat straight on the stool, the hat touched his head and immediately shouted, "SLYTHERIN!"

The table on the far left cheered and Aurora's heart sank a bit. She had truly enjoyed her train journey and was hoping that she could actually be _friends_, at least not enemies with the two boys.

She looked sideways at Tony, who winked at Joseph as – "Mulciber, Tony!"

He pushed his hair back as he walked forward and sat on the stool, the hat waited no more than five seconds before shouting, "SLYTHERIN!"

Aurora looked down and stood nervously until she heard her name.

"Saxon, Aurora!"

She walked up gracefully and sat. The hat was put on her head, and she realized that the whole school was looking at her as the hat covered her eyes and left nothing but darkness.

Aurora seemed to be the only Asian in the school, her straight hair was deep black, just like her eyes, it flowed down on the sides of her face and seemed to blend in with her black school robes, contrasting her pale skin.

_Hmm… Interesting… _Aurora heard a voice inside – well more like on top of her head. _I see potential, ohh… first in the family to attend Hogwarts I see. Some powerful family background, but I can't quite place it… _What?_ Not from around here, are you? You'd do just fine in – "SLYTHERIN!"_

Aurora sat still for a second, frozen, as the hat was removed and she saw a table cheering in welcome._ What? _She thought as she made her way to the side of the hall. She saw Tony beckoning to her and signaling the seat on his left.

"Hi! Nice to meet you!" He smiled as she took the seat.

"Yeah," Aurora nodded, slightly confused but quite happy, "nice to meet you."

The feast was great, the people were quite nice, and the day had gone relatively well, but as she and the other Slytherin first years followed their prefect down to the dungeons, Aurora still couldn't stop thinking, _why_. _What family background. Am I not muggle-born?_

"Welcome to Slytherin," said the tall fifth year prefect as they entered the common room, "I'm Samuel Greengrass, your prefect. Slytherin Dungeon – this common room will be the place for you to study and to rest, to spend time within this house, which will be like family at Hogwarts. Passwords change every fortnight and will be posted on the noticeboards. We have won house cup for sixteen consecutive years and we hope that each one of you would make sure that we make it seventeen this year. It is also a… tradition that every year, at least one of the head boy and head girl is from Slytherin, this year Nathanael Malfoy is our headboy. Here in Slytherin, we expect everyone to achieve. Keep that in mind. Boys' dormitories this way and girls' this way. Good night and get prepared for your year."

The dungeon had an eerie green glow, from the large windows that look deep into the lake of Hogwarts. The water flows by, leaving calm splashing sounds echoing among the stone walls. Aurora followed the Slytherin girls and walked up a spiral staircase that led deeper down, where she found her room. Four girls shared a room with four-poster beds, and wooden writing desks. The same eerie green glow seeped in through the open velvet curtains.

Angelina Malfoy, Sabrina Zabini, Jackie Davis and Aurora briefly introduced themselves and threw their tired bodies onto their beds.

_So_, Aurora thought as she was lying on her bed wide awake, alone in the silence now that the other girls are asleep, _either the hat was lying, or my whole life had been a lie. Now that I think of it, mother is at least partly Asian, but where from? And I don't look like I'm mixed, I look totally Asian. It was never a topic of discussion, I never suspected, but maybe… _

Aurora shot up and opened her trunk by her bed, grabbing a sack and sat cross-legged on her bed. Under the eerie light from her bed-side window, she slowly opened the sack, revealing a wooden box, old and battered, but still showed magnificent and extremely detailed carvings. Her mother's voice rang in her head. _Here, take this with you, a memory from home._

Aurora's pale fingers reached down to touch the hatch, and she slowly lifted the lid. It was jade, pure white, and as the light flowed straight through it, seemed somewhat transparent. She took it up into her palms and studied the carvings, a dragon. _Weird, _she thought, _it's clearly not moving, it's clearly a piece of muggle… art? But it looks so… real, almost alive, like it holds magic…_

She carefully turned it upside down, and on it's base was carved symbols, of foreign language, something like Chinese.

Her heart was pounding really fast now she can't think straight. She put the jade back into the box, back into the sack and back into her trunk, then she lay flat on her bed, listening to the pounding of her heart.

_There's a secret about myself that I do not know of. I need to decode that thing as soon as I can._

_I need to find out who I am.  
_


End file.
